"That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and
increasing in the knowledge of God;" . . . Colossians 1:10 . . .

Two Famous Old Testament Mothers & What We Can
Learn From Them

Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D.May 14, 2006

Introduction

The word mother occurs 245 times in our King
James Bible, 159 times in the Old Testament and 86 times in the New
Testament. My dictionary defines a mother as - A woman who
conceives, gives birth to, or raises and nurtures a child.

In this message we are going to look at two
famous Old Testament Mothers and see what we can learn from them.

Eve – The First Mother

Genesis 3:20 says, "And Adam called his
wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all
living." Eve is the English translation of the Hebrew word
hwx Chavvah (khav-vaw’) which means life-giver,
and by extension, mother. Eve is unique in that she was
created from a man.

We read in…

Genesis 2:20-25

"And Adam gave names
to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every
beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help
meet for him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep
to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his
ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And
the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a
woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam
said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out
of Man."

Eve is unique because all people after her were
physically created from women and all have Eve as their ancestor,
therefore she is rightly called "the mother of all living."

What We Can Learn From Eve

Since Eve was the 1st mother, we can
learn something about God’s design for all mothers.

Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 2:24-25
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not
ashamed."

It is clear from this passage that a man is
to marry a woman – period. Though I should not need to say
it, I will say it for the record: God designed marriage to be
between a biological male and a biological female.

Next, it is also clear that marriage is to
come before sexual relationships and childbearing.
Genesis 4:1 "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and
bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD." The word knew means to have an intimate sexual knowledge of. And
who did Adam have that intimate sexual knowledge of? The text says
"Eve his wife." Right from the very beginning, sexual relationships
were exclusively designed for a husband and wife within the marriage
relationship alone. All other sexual behaviors,
(homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, fornication,
and adultery), are SIN.

Our society is so saturated with sexual
promiscuity today that one in four children are born out of wedlock.

In summary, every person who is alive today or
has ever lived is related to Eve. She is the mother of all living
human beings.

Jochebed - The Mother of Moses

Jochebed’s name means Jehovah-gloried.
The name of Moses’ mother is mentioned only twice in the Bible –
Numbers 26:59 and Exodus 6:20 "And Amram took him
Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and
Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and
thirty and seven years." We know from the Numbers reference that
there was a daughter named Miriam.

In order to appreciate Jochebed, we need to
understand the difficult times that she faced. Exodus 1:22
succinctly sums up the dire situation -- "And Pharaoh charged all
his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the
river, and every daughter ye shall save alive."

It is hard for me to imagine the anxiety Jochebed
experienced when a boy was born instead of a girl. But, as soon as
she knew he was a healthy boy she was not aftaid to defied the
command of the Pharaoh (Hebrews 11:23) and determined that
she would do all she could to see that her son would live. Let’s
read the Biblical account – Exodus 2:2-10.

What thanksgiving must have poured out her heart
when Miriam comes home and tells Jocebed Pharaoh’s wants to pay her
to nurse her own baby. God had blessed her efforts. Her baby’s life
was spared.

What We Can Learn From Jochebed

So, why am I drawing your attention to Jochebed,
the mother of Moses on this mother’s day? Turn with me to
Acts
7:22 "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians…." From this verse we know that Moses had a thorough
Egyptian education. But have you ever wondered why Moses "refused to
be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter?" In my thinking, I
attribute that to his mother. It goes without saying that there were
many things he could not learn from his Egyptian education. I rather
think it was his mother, who, as he became old enough to understand,
taught him about God, and his own people, the people of God. It was
she who nurtured him in the Lord, who set before him the way of life
so that when "he was come to years," he chose "to suffer affliction
with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
season esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the
reward" Hebrews 11:24-26. Moses’ father’s God became his God
too, (Exodus 18: 4).

I should note that both his mother Jochebed and
his father Amram were united in their saving of Moses, and his
subsequent spiritual training (see Acts 7: 20; Hebrews 11:23).

You may be wondering how long Moses’ parents had
to work with him. We don’t know for sure. The Bible only says, "And
the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter…"
Exodus 2:10. The word translated "grew" comes from a Hebrew word
which means to be large or grow in various senses, such as in body,
and mind. Some Jewish scholars believe that Moses was three years
old when he was turned over to Pharaoh’s daughter.

This is my point. You can teach a child a great
deal in the first three years of their lives and the Hebrew word
gadal – grew indicates that is exactly what the
mother of Moses did!

Oh how Christian moms and dads need to begin
right from birth teaching their children about the Lord and
programming their "moral compasses" according to the Bible. In our
day, we are witnessing first hand what happens in a culture when
children grown up without a knowledge and fear of God and without
having their moral standards set according to the Bible.

What our nation need are godly mothers who will
make it a priority to train up their children in the way they should
go.

Moses is one of the most influential men in all
of human history, and holds an honorable place in the roll of God’s
servants in Hebrews 11. His mother played a key roll!

Please click here for the Most Important Message of the Bible Concerning You."
Is any of the following a blessing to you today?"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Matthew 24:3
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."1 Corinthians 2:9